Receive the latest national-international updates in your inbox

200,000 Expected To Attend Women's March on Washington

It started as one woman's angry Facebook post in the hours after the 2016 presidential election. Now, her idea has mushroomed into the Women's March on Washington, which is expected to draw 200,000 demonstrators to the national mall on Saturday, the day after the inauguration. News 4's Julie Carey reports. (Published Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017)

At least one Southwest flight full of women flying to Washington for Saturday's women's march lit up with pink lights in the cabin in apparent solidarity with the passengers.

"When your Southwest flight crew celebrate a plane full of kicka-- women and men going to the Women's March by lighting it up!! #lit #womensmarchonwashington #lovetrumpshate," passenger Krystal Parrish wrote on Instagram with a picture of the light pink hues.

In a statement, Southwest Airlines said the lighting was not a company-wide initiative, but that crews on flights sometimes adjust lighting based on passengers aboard.

"Some of our aircraft are equipped with mood lighting and while this was not a company-wide initiative, at times, our flight crews will adjust the lighting for a customer or group of customers traveling on their flight," the statement said. "For example, in October, one of our Flight Crews changed the lighting to honor a breast cancer survivor on board their flight."

A passenger on a flight from Chicago to Baltimore Thursday said the light adjustment was a welcome surprise.

"It was unexpected and unannounced," passenger Jennifer Moran told NBC in an email. "There was no announcement explicitly from the staff and no one screamed this is for the March. Nothing, just spontaneous and everyone knew exactly why they were cheering."

In one video posted to Twitter, a flight attendant is heard welcoming passengers to Baltimore and requesting a round of applause for all the "nasty women" attending the March on Washington. She then reminds them to stay hydrated and to remember that "we don't take no ish from no man."

They will join hundreds of thousands of others expected to converge on the National Mall for the Women's March on Washington.

March organizers said in a mission statement posted to their website that participants will unite to end violence and promote rights for women, LGBT people, workers, people of color, people with disabilities and immigrants.

"The Women’s March on Washington will send a bold message to our new government on their first day in office, and to the world that women's rights are human rights. We stand together, recognizing that defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us," the site says.